SELMA, AL. – Penn State men's soccer senior defender Michael Gaines, along with 100 other student athletes, coaches and administrators across several conferences, attended the Big Ten Big Life Series: Selma to Montgomery this past weekend. The trip was a journey to Selma and Montgomery, Alabama for an educational experience at the heart of where the civil rights movement took place.
The trip began on Friday night in Montgomery with Sheyann Webb-Christburg, author and eyewitness of the original Bloody Sunday Attack. It continued Saturday in Selma at the First Baptist Church, where hundreds of students marched from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. Following the church, the group marched across the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge. The rest of the day consisted of visits to a series of landmarks, museums and learning centers.
The group had the opportunity to hear from EJI Legacy Museum founder and social justice lawyer Bryan Stevenson and then form small groups to discuss their experiences.
Gaines reflected on his experience upon returning to Penn State and said, "During my weekend in Alabama I had the incredible opportunity to walk in the footsteps of hundreds of courageous people who came before. I was blessed to be able to listen to individuals who experienced that time period only 50-60 years ago, firsthand. Their bravery and tenacity have inspired me to for a lifetime." Gaines said, "My biggest takeaway from this weekend is that our generation has a strong voice and influence. This will be our country for the foreseeable future, so it is our responsibility to speak and use our platform to continue to fight for what we believe in."
Big Ten Equality Coalition features student-athletes, coaches, athletic directors, chancellors, presidents, and other members of the Big Ten Conference family from all 14 member institutions. It has a stated goal of seeking tangible ways to combat racism and hate around the world, while also empowering student-athletes to express their rights to free speech and peaceful protest actively and constructively. Following the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd, Big Ten Conference Commissioner Kevin Warren wrote an open letter on June 1, 2020, officially announcing the formation of the Equality Coalition and the United States Library of Congress included the letter in its historic collection. An early product of the Equality Coalition was the creation of the Big Ten Voter Registration Initiative. The nonpartisan, conference-wide collaboration encourages student-athletes to take part in the electoral process and is led by a Voter Registration Committee that includes representatives from all 14 Big Ten Conference member institutions. Big Life Series one of the latest examples of the Big Ten Equality Coalition in action.
Big Ten Conference (bigten.org) is an association of world-class universities whose member institutions share a common mission of research, graduate, professional and undergraduate teaching, and public service. Founded in 1896, Big Ten Conference has sustained a comprehensive set of shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in the lives of students competing in intercollegiate athletics and emphasize the values of integrity, fairness, and competitiveness. The broad-based programs of the 14 Big Ten Conference institutions will provide over $200 million in direct financial support to more than 9,800 students for more than 11,000 participation opportunities on 350 teams in 42 different sports. Big Ten Conference sponsors 28 official conference sports, 14 for men and 14 for women, including the addition of men's ice hockey and men's and women's lacrosse since 2013.
